Explanations
by kaszalot
Summary: Several years after the war, and Draco and Hermione's affair, Draco starts to notice things about her daughter, Grace Weasley, that remind him of himself. He begins to wonder, is it really a coincidence? Either way, Hermione owes several people some explanations.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey guys, so I just wanted to clarify a few things before I begin. In this story, Ginny and Harry did NOT get married. Harry marries a Muggle named Francine and Ginny marries Dean. I did not want any confusion. However, Harry's family still goes to the Burrow for most holidays. I just wanted to let you know this so it wouldn't be weird at certain points. Also, here I am just going to list the main families.**

 **HERMIONE:**

 **Grace- Slytherin, Year 7**

 **Rose- Gryffindor, Year 4**

 **Hugo- Gryffindor, Year 3**

 **DRACO:**

 **Alison- Slytherin, Year 5**

 **Scorpius- Slytherin, Year 4**

 **Annaliese- Slytherin, Year 4**

 **Sydney- Not sorted, 8 years old**

 **Quinnley- Not sorted, 8 years old**

 **HARRY:**

 **James- Gryffindor, Year 7**

 **Albus- Slytherin, Year 4**

 **Lily- Gryffindor, Year 3**

 **GINNY/DEAN:**

 **Jack- Ravenclaw, Year 5**

 **Pearl- Hufflepuff, Year 1**

"Grace, Rose, and Hugo!" Hermione called up the stairs of her and Ron's small townhouse to her children. She was very anxious to get them to King's Cross, as she would be attending Hogwarts with them. Not as a student, but as the Charms Professor and Head of Gryffindor house. She was excited to walk the halls of her favorite place in the world once again. She told her children and the only one that seemed to mind was Hugo, but only because he was trying to get in with the popular crowd. He was going into his third year like Lily Potter, Rose was going into her fourth year along with Albus Potter, and Grace was going into her seventh year, same as James Potter. "We need to leave now! At the rate we are going now, it wouldn't be a surprise if your Aunt Ginny got there with Jack and Pearl before we did! And you _know_ how late your Aunt Ginny always is. Do you want to be that late?"

Immediately, Grace apparated downstairs with her trunk next to her, startling her mother, who said, "I will never get used to you being able to apparate!"

"Don't worry, mum," Grace chuckled. "Once you get used to me being able to use magic out of school, it will be easier to adapt to Hugo and Rose being able to."

"That is true."

They walked into the platform and immediately scattered. Grace went straight for the Malfoys, Rose went to the Potters, and Hugo went to George and Angelina's kids. Hermione went and socialized with Ginny, Dean, Harry, Francine, and Ron and then had to say goodbye. She saw that her children had already boarded, so she got on the train and headed straight for the teacher compartment. She sat down next to Neville and made small talk until she saw someone walk through the door that she least expected.

"Hermione?"

"Since when are you and Malfoy on a first name basis?" Neville asked in Hermione's ear. She ignored Neville's comment and stood up.

"Hello, Draco."

"How is Ron?"

"Good. How is Astoria?"

"Good."

There was an awkward silence between them until Draco made a comment, "I think Your daughter, Grace, has become best friends with my daughter, Alison."

Hermione slightly winced, she had forgotten that Draco knew of Grace at all. She always feared that someday Ron or Draco would notice that Grace's platinum blonde streaks in her dark black hair was not all from Hermione's side of the family, or that Grace's piercing grey eyes were neither inherited from Ron nor Hermione. Even though she and Ron were broken up at the time and it wasn't cheating, she still feels guilty for letting Ron believe that Grace was his daughter.

"Yes, I noticed," Hermione admitted.

"That means we will probably be seeing a lot more of each other," Draco said. "Seeing as they will be."

"Yeah."

"Look, Hermione," Draco said after another silence. The way he said her name always sent shivers down her spine. Her first name, anyways. When he called her by her surname it made her want to slap him hard across the face like she did in 3rd Year. "I would like to go back to being friends. I know things were awkward when I had to marry Astoria and you got back together with Ron, but I would just like to change that. It's been seventeen years of us avoiding each other in the corridors, at feasts, in general. I want to go back to when we felt comfortable telling each other everything. Can we do that?"

Hermione thought about his offer. She would love to do that, she just wasn't sure if she was ready for anyone to know that Grace was actually Draco's daughter. She also didn't know if she could handle being friends with Draco without her feelings for him coming back. She then decided that that was a risk she was willing to take as long as she could be around him.

"I agree," She said. "So what are all your children's names, anyway? I'm not sure I've taught all of them yet."

"Right. Well, you know Alison, who is sixteen, then there are Scorpius and Annaliese, who are fourteen, and then Sydney and Quinn who are eight. And you?"

"Well, there is Grace, whom you know, and she's seventeen, Rose, who is fourteen, and then Hugo, who is thirteen. Ron was so happy when we had Hugo, he wasn't too fond of all the tea parties and dress up games."

Draco smiled at Hermione's laugh. He missed so much being able to see her smile. Hermione noticed him looking at her and turned away. She was glad that they were finally friends again. 

Grace walked into the Potions Room and smiled when she saw that Slytherin would be taking Potions with Gryffindor this year. The reason she liked that idea so much is because she had the biggest crush on James Potter. She loved that they got to spend more time together. She went over to him and sat down.

"Hi," She said happily. He turned to her and smiled.

"Hey, so are you ready for one last year of potions?"

"Yes. I actually like Potions, so I'm excited. I am just worried about the NEWT test..."

"Why? You're great at Potions!"

"Well, I have test anxiety," she said, looking down. She had a habit of second-guessing herself when it came to tests.

"Alright, class. Today might be a little different from normal class, and we are going to just break the ice and get to know each other," Professor Malfoy said as he walked into the classroom and brightened the lights a bit. "Because even though you all have been in classes together for almost seven years, I feel like you don't truly know one another. We will start with a game that isn't much of a game. We will go around the room and say our names, and something interesting about ourselves. Alright? I'll start. My name is Draco Malfoy and I have five children. Next, Miss Weasley!"

"Which one?" James laughed. Professor Malfoy chuckled and specified.

"Miss Grace Weasley."

"Well," Grace said. "I'm Grace Weasley and even though my whole family and basically entire bloodline on my father's side has ginger hair, I have black hair with natural blonde streaks."

Draco froze. The only person he knew with black hair and natural blonde streaks was his mother. Was there even anyone in the Weasley family who had black hair to begin with? He shook it off. It couldn't be, right? It would be impossible for Grace to be his daughter. That would be ridiculous.

"Professor?" Grace questioned, tapping on his shoulder. "You've been staring at the wall the whole class."

"What?" Draco asked, obviously confused.

"I said something about my hair and you just froze," She replied. "It was a bit unsettling. I have been here since the end of class. Are you okay, Professor?"

"Yes, of course," Draco said, not as sure of himself as he would have liked to be. "Shouldn't you be in class?"

"Professor, I have a free period. My next class was supposed to be Care of Magical Creatures, but that class was taken out of the program since Hagrid died this past summer..."

"You can call me Draco outside of class now, you know," Draco said. "You are best friends with my daughter, so I think it's safe to say that you are family."

"Thanks, Pro-Draco."

"Oh my goodness, we have to go to the library!" Alison yelled to Grace as soon as they met up in the Slytherin Common Room.

"What, why?" she asked.

"You'll see!" Ali shouted excitedly, dragging Grace along to the library. Once they got there, Alison brought her to an isle, summoned a book and then they went and sat in the corner. "Guess what this is!"

"A book?" Grace guessed, showing no effort.

"No, silly," Alison said, ignoring the sarcasm in Grace's voice. "It is a log of articles from The Daily Prophet and Witch Weekly that were never published! Guess who I found!"

Grace looked at the page Ali was pointing at, and her jaw dropped. On the page was a cover of The Daily Prophet that had her mother, her father, and Harry. The headline was, 'War Heroes tell the tale of their adventures hunting horcruxes'

"My parent's were the subject of gossip?"

"Oh wait, that's not all. Apparently, mine were too. Look!" Alison turned several pages and landed on one with Draco on the cover of Witch Weekly. It's headline was, 'Hearthrob Draco Malfoy wins Favorite Change in Heart in the Witch's Choice Awards!'

"Wow," Grace said finally. "Our parents were actually the young adult icons of their time."

"Yeah," Alison said, "But there is one article in particular that caught my eye..."

She showed Grace an article whose headline was, 'Ron Weasley and Hermione Granger have new baby? Three reasons why this kid can't be Ron's daughter'. Grace was immediately appauled by the headline. She turned the page to see what parts about her made the media think that she wasn't Ron's daughter.

 _'So we all know the daughter of Ron and Hermione Weasley, Grace! She is now six years old and we at Witch Weekly think that there are some things about this little girl that are not Weasley or Granger traits. Does Hermione have some explaining to do? Anyways, here are three reasons that this child cannot belong to Ron Weasley:_

 _1\. Her straight black hair with blonde streaks. Who in the Weasley family do we know that has black hair? No one. All of them are gingers. Even Grace's younger siblings, Rose and Hugo, are gingers. Looking at the other side of the family, Hermione Granger does not have black hair either._

 _2\. Her deep grey eyes. Ron Weasley has Blue eyes. Even though blue-grey eyed children are common for blue eyed parents, dark grey children are not. Hermione has brown eyes, so if the child were really Ron's, the baby most likely would have received the brown eyes. Considering the fact that her eye color matches the eye color of Draco Malfoy, we wouldn't be surprised if he was the biological father._

 _3\. Her smirk. We have pictures of this girl smirking like there is no tomorrow. Where do we recognize that smirk? Is it possibly the infamous Malfoy Smirk?_

 _With looking at this evidence, you are probably thinking the same thing. Ron Weasley is not the father of Grace Weasley, but Draco Malfoy is. I bet Hermione owes both Draco and Ron some explanations.'_

Grace didn't say anything, she just grabbed the book and ran to her dorm. She didn't know what she was going to do with her newfound information, but she did know that her mother owed more than just Draco and Ron explanations. She owed Grace one too.


	2. Chapter 2

Grace decided that she wasn't going to tell her mother about what she found. After reading that article, she had ripped it from the book and stuffed it into her potions book. She had been studying the article backwards and forwards, trying to make sense of it. Alison was the only other person who knew about the article, and had been trying to comfort her about it, but Grace shut everyone out.

"Grace, are you alright?" asked James one day after Potions. He was worried about her because she had been acting different. She wasn't talking to anyone, not even to him or Alison. That was the part that puzzled him. It was driving him nuts. He wanted her to pay attention to him, look at him at least. But instead all he got was the cold shoulder.

"I'm fine," Grace said and turned to leave, but James grabbed her arm before she got the chance.

"No you aren't, you haven't been the same since that first day in Potions, and I won't have it," said James sternly. "Not without you telling me."

"James I don't want you to have to deal with this," argued Grace. She knew that if he found out, he would do everything in his power to make things okay for her and he shouldn't have to do that. "Once I tell you, you can't un-know it."

"I'm not dealing with you, I'm trying to help you," said James. "You're my friend. I care a lot about you."

"Look, James," Grace started. "I can't let you help me. I have to figure this out on my own. You shouldn't have to be involved."

"I don't have to be involved, Gracie," James said, taking her hands in his. "I want to be involved."

"I'm sorry, James," Grace said quietly as she pulled her hands away and walked past him.

 _Dear Dad,_

 _Hogwarts is great. Alison and I have found a book of every article ever written for The Daily Prophet, Witch Weekly, and The Quibbler! Even some that weren't published! We saw that you, Mum, and Harry really were the major celebrities of your time! I am really enjoying myself, and Hugo and Rose are as well._

 _Love,_

 _Grace_

 _P.S. I think that Rosie has a crush on Frankie Longbottom!_

Grace folded the letter and attached it to the leg of her owl and watched it fly away. It was a lot easier to pretend that it was okay when she didn't have to see someone face to face. She didn't want to lose her father, even if he wasn't her biological father. She just wanted everything to be okay. She wouldn't mind if Professor Malfoy were her father if she had grown up with him. But since she grew up thinking Ron Weasley was her father, she didn't want that to change. What would happen if he found out that her mother had an affair? Would he stop loving her? Would she be shunned by her family for being the unwanted affair child?

After she sent the letter, Grace went to the library to read more into when her Mother was young. She found a few books with her in them, but she couldn't find anything that said if her mother was ever in a relationship with Professor Malfoy. _This is going to be difficult..._ Grace thought. She was getting tired and still had a lot of homework to do, so she decided to head back to the Common Room.

"Grace!" yelled Rose as she came rushing through the portrait hole. Since the war, Gryffindors and Slytherins didn't hate each other, so it wasn't taboo for one to be in the others' common room. "Hugo's in the Hospital Wing!"

"What?" questioned Grace as Rose began tugging her along. "What happened?"

"He was cursed, and they can't figure out what the curse was, all they know is that when he was knocked out, a blue light flashed throughout his body," Rose explained. "They are going to have to move him to St. Mungo's!"

As soon as Rose and Grace arrived in the Hospital Wing, Lily Potter came running up to them.

"Grace, Hugo was going to deliver this to you when he fell unconscious," she said, handing Grace a small envelope. Grace examined it briefly but decided that her baby brother was more important.

"Where is he?" Grace asked. "Where is my brother?"

Lily pointed to a bed at the end of the room that held a frail-looking Hugo Weasley. Grace, Rose and Lily ran in that direction and stopped at his bedside.

"Grace, Rose, your father will be here by Floo Network as soon as they can and your mother is on her way down as we speak," said Madame Pomfrey as she approached the three girls and Hugo. "Lily, I'm afraid you are going to have to go. He is going to be transported to St. Mungo's once Mr. Weasley arrives."

"Can't I go with him?" Lily pleaded, tears beginning to fall from her dark brown eyes that she inherited from her mother. "I mean, I was there when the curse enacted itself. I could be a help in figuring out what it is."

"Miss Potter, you must go," said McGonagall sternly. "If we need your information, then we will make sure to summon you. But for now, you must immediately return to your dorm."

"Yes, Headmistress," Lily said finally before reluctantly stalking off to the Gryffindor Common Room.

Just then, in burst Scorpius Malfoy carrying his twin sister, Annaliese.

"It's my sister!" he shouted. "She's been cursed. I don't know what it is, but she just fell to the ground! There was a blue light that coursed through her body after she fell, but that's all I saw."

"Oh dear," whispered McGonagall. Rose looked confused, but Grace knew that look on the face of Professor McGonagall. At that moment they both knew that the curse that hit Hugo Weasley had also hit Annaliese Malfoy. This all meant that it wasn't a coincidence that the two unfortunate students were cursed, but that someone had meant to do it. 

_Looks like two people you love were cursed because of your little secret. You should fess up before someone else gets hurt... Jamesie, perhaps?_

Grace read and re-read the note over and over. She knew that if she were to tell someone about the note, she would have to tell them that she thought Professor Malfoy was her father. That was the last thing Grace wanted to do. She decided against telling anyone, not even Alison. Grace would do anything to protect James. 

_Looks like Mummy's little boy got hurt because Mummy's first born wasn't Daddy's..._

Hermione was appalled by the words on the parchment before her. The note had been put on her desk and Hermione had read it through and through ever since. She couldn't imagine how anyone could have found out... Not even Grace knew, and the secret was _about_ her. Hermione made an executive decision to throw the note into the fireplace and it soon became one with the ashes. She let out a sigh of relief, for at least the note was out of the way. Hermione figured that it was a one time thing, surely she wouldn't continue to get more of those notes, right?

Grace was sitting in the common room doing her homework when Alison approached.

"Gracie, come with me to Hogsmeade." said Alison, closing Grace's book.

"I was using that!" Grace complained.

Alison picked up the book and set it down on a shelf across the room. "You have to get out of the common room sometimes!"

"No I don't, I can sit and read if I want to," said Grace, grabbing the book and starting up the stairs to her dorm.

"You can't ignore everyone forever!" Alison shouted up the steps.

"I can try!" argued Grace as she slammed the door shut. She sat on her bed and began reading her book again. It wasn't a textbook, it was actually her mother's old journal. During their usual Wednesday teas, Grace had taken it out of her mother's desk. She didn't feel great about having stolen it, but she needed to know the truth about her father.

After skimming through several entries, Grace finally got to some useful information.

 _'December 12, 2002_

 _Dear diary,_

 _It is almost time for Christmas break. Draco told me he loved me! Of course I said it back, but I still have to tell him about what happened. Ron proposed to me. And... I said yes. Both Draco and I know that he will have to marry Astoria in order to merge the Greengrass family with the Malfoys. So ultimately, it's better for everyone that Draco and I break up. It is for the best that I marry Ron and Draco marry Astoria, and that we just go our separate ways. As much as it hurts me._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Hermione_

 _February 13, 2003_

 _Dear diary,_

 _I found out that I am pregnant. Ron thinks the child is his, but I believe that it is Draco's. I don't know what to do. How would I explain to Ron that the child I am bearing belongs to his childhood enemy? I am probably just going to pretend that the child is Ron's. It will be easier on everyone, and it will make everything so much easier._

 _Sincerely,_

 _Hermione_ '


	3. Chapter 3

"Mother, we need to talk," said Grace sternly as she entered Hermione's office. She set the diary on the desk, and Hermione's eyes immediately filled with tears.

"Grace I'm so sor-"

"No!" shouted Grace. "You can't possibly mean that! You can't be sorry! Sorry wouldn't lie to me about my father for seventeen years! Sorry wouldn't lie to her other children and make them think that their parents are in love because this book made it quite clear that you only got married because it was _the right thing to do_. Sorry would not lie so many times to her own family, to everyone. You let me think that the man that raised me was my father. The least you could have done was tell me. But no. You ripped my dad away from me. I don't care what biology says at this point, mother, Ron Weasley _is_ my father. I won't let your mistake seventeen years ago ruin _my_ life. But don't _you dare_ say that you are sorry."

"Gracie, you know that I love you," Hermione began with tears running down her face. "You weren't a mistake. I love you so much."

"Why would you lie to me? Why would you lie to dad?" asked Grace sadly finally sitting down and letting the steam go.

"I was scared, I didn't know what to do," answered Hermione. "I didn't want Harry and Ron to know that I had been in love with their enemy, I didn't want them to think badly of me."

"Things about me are starting to make sense now I suppose," Grace pointed out. "My hair. I must have gotten it from his side of the family."

"Yes, his mother had black hair with natural blond streaks. That is a Black trait," Hermione stated, looking down at the floor in memory. Narcissa was very kind and motherly towards Hermione despite her blood status. Lucius wouldn't have been so kind but he was murdered by an ex death eater a year after the war.

"Mother?"

"Yes, Grace?"

"Do I have his eyes," asked Grace softly. Hermione let one last tear fall as she slowly nodded her head.

"Yes you do," Hermione answered before Grace got up and rushed to her arms and started weeping. Hermione stroked her hair and held her tightly as she cried. "It's alright, sweetheart."

"But is it, Mum?" Grace questioned, sitting back down in the chair across from Hermione. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know, Darling."

After that, Grace was doing a lot of talking with her mother. They had been meeting after classes to talk about what they were going to do. They discovered that they both had received those notes, and neither of them could figure out who had sent them. They didn't know anyone else who knew for sure that Grace was Draco's daughter. That was what scared them most.

Grace walked into Potions class a few days later and took a seat by herself in the back corner. James was in the middle of the classroom with an empty seat next to him and was looking around until his eyes met hers. He got up and moved his things over to the seat next to hers before she had any time to object.

"James-," she started but was cut off when James raised a hand.

"You don't have to tell me what has been troubling you, but you can't just push me out completely," he said somewhat sadly. "Please don't stop being my friend, Gracie."

"I just don't want you to get hurt, James," she said with a sigh. But then she realized something. If she told him about it, then wouldn't she be doing what the black mailer wanted? "Actually, meet me at the Astronomy Tower after classes. I have something to tell you."


	4. Chapter 4

"So what did you ask me up here for?" James asked Grace as he finished scaling the steps of the Astronomy Tower.

"I want to tell you what has been bothering me," Grace said. She sat down on a bench and James followed suit. "There's something about me that isn't what anyone thought."

"What do you mean, Gracie?" James chuckled nervously. "I know more about you than anyone."

"You don't know my father though," Grace said quietly, but just loudly enough for James to hear her. He shook his head. "It isn't Ron Weasley."

"Come off it Grace, this joke isn't funny," James said, getting stern. Grace's eyes started to well up with tears as she looked down to the ground. "You can't be serious, right? Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione love each other."

"He loves her, correct," Grace cried softly. "But she loves someone else. She always has loved someone else."

"Grace, James, you have to come now," Hermione shouted as she burst through the doors of the astronomy tower. She was panting heavily and her makeup was smeared as if she had been crying. "It's your siblings."

"What happened?" James questioned as they quickly followed Hermione down the stairs and towards the hospital wing. Grace couldn't help but think that their blackmailer had attacked yet more people close to her.

"Rose, Albus, and Lily were cursed," said Hermione, letting a tear fall. This awful person had cursed two of her children and she was determined to find them and hex them into oblivion.

"The same curse that hit Annaliese Malfoy and Hugo?" James asked. This time, Hermione and Grace both stopped in their tracks and turned to face James.

"How do you know about that?" they both asked at the same time. James rubbed the back of his neck.

"I kind of used my invisibility cloak to follow Grace to the Hospital Wing." he said sheepishly. "I was planning on talking to her so I was standing outside her common room when Rose came running up and rushed into the common room without giving me a second glance. I knew it had to be serious so I put on my invisibility cloak and followed them. I figured Grace wouldn't want me to deal with it so she wouldn't let me go if she saw me."

"Damn right I wouldn't have," Grace exclaimed angrily. She glanced at her mother. "Darn right."

"We don't have time for this," Hermione said after a few seconds. "Yes it was the same curse. Now let's go."

"They were all carrying notes again," Madame Pomfrey said sadly after Grace, James, and Hermione got to the Hospital Wing and asked for details. "They all had a friend with them when it happened. Roxanne Weasley was with Lily. The Malfoy boy was with Rose and Albus. That boy has now had to bring three people in here with the same curse. The poor child probably thinks it's his fault. He said the Rose was carrying one addressed to her sister, and Albus was carrying one addressed for his brother. Miss Weasley said that Lily was carrying one addressed to her Charms Professor. All urgent. I think you all ought to read the letters they were delivering. I haven't read them, but they must have been important."

"Wait, there's one for James this time?" Grace asked cautiously. _Oh no._ She thought. _This is all my fault. I shouldn't have told him! Now he is involved!_ Madame Pomfrey nodded before telling Hermione about how St. Mungo's couldn't do anything further, so all of the curse victims were going to have to stay in the Hospital Wing.

 _Oh, Jamesie._

 _Now your siblings are involved too. Expose your dear little Gracie's secret or it's you next._

James read the words over and over before telling Grace to meet him by the Black Lake and then jogging off. He was more scared of that one little note than he had been of anything in his entire life. He couldn't even imagine what Grace had already been going through.

"What does yours say, mother?" Grace asked. Hermione looked down at the note and began to read.

"'First your own children, then your best friend's children. But you don't care about that do you? Not enough to expose your own dirty little secret,'" Hermione read weakly with tears falling freely down her face. "This is my fault, Grace. I'm sorry I dragged you into it."

Hermione ran off, leaving her daughter speechless. Grace then went to the Black Lake to meet up with James like he said. When she got there, James pulled her into a big hug. As soon as he did, Grace began bawling into his shoulder.

"It's okay, Gracie," he cooed, rubbing her back as she cried. "I'm here for you."

"Thank you," Grace said, looking up at him. She was still in his arms as they looked deep into each other's eyes. James made the first move as he leaned in and pressed his lips to hers.

When they pulled away, James looked her in the eyes and said, "I love you, Gracie."


	5. Chapter 5

Since James told her he loved her, Grace had been avoiding him at all costs. Of course she loved him back, but she couldn't let him get involved more than he already was. His siblings were cursed because she told him... What would happen to the other people he cared about if she let him stay involved?

For the next two months, James was miserable. After five years of being in love with her, he finally had the guts to tell her and she hasn't talked to him since. It was crushing him. He barely left his dorm. He was missing classes left and right and even got a letter sent home to his mum, who sent him a howler (with the help of his father who taught her how to use it) in return. James just didn't feel like getting out of bed was worth it if he didn't get to spend his days with Grace, who was actually missing a lot of classes too.

Grace spent most of her time in her mother's office-even when her mother wasn't in there-trying to trace the letters to who had written them. It was not the easiest thing to do, and it was probably the hardest thing that Grace had ever tried to accomplish. Even as a Seventh Year, there were so many things she didn't know how to do yet. It was frustrating her greatly that she hadn't been able to do anything to stop what was going on.

"Grace, I think I may know a way to find out who is performing the curses," Hermione said urgently one chilly day in mid-October as she entered her office to see Grace. Hermione was carrying a large Charms book and set it down on her desk. Grace looked up from _A Standard Book of Jinxes and Hexes_ with a gleam of rekindled hope in her eyes. "It's called the Communicatus Charm. When in use you can communicate with wizards and witches that are petrified or killed by curses. They used to use it to solve murders before the trace."

"So do you think we can use it to ask everyone who was cursed if they remember who cursed them?" Grace asked her mother. Hermione nodded with happy tears as she pulled her eldest daughter into a tight hug.

"Headmaster McGonagall has said I can take you and James with me to St. Mungo's today after classes."

After his daughter was cursed, Draco couldn't help but not have as much fun teaching. He used to live for it, but now he just felt so useless. Hermione and Grace wouldn't even look his way and his daughter, Ali, always looked depressed. Grace and Ali hadn't been around each other very often since the beginning of term and he had no idea why. The two used to be inseparable but these days they couldn't even look at each other. Of course, neither Grace nor Ali had said anything about it to Draco. Whenever he asked Ali she either changed the subject or made an excuse to leave. His letters to Astoria were always filled with grief and hers to him were never any happier. Astoria spent nearly all her time at St. Mungo's at Annaliese's bedside and their other daughters, Sydney and Quinnley, practically lived at Malfoy Manor with their grandmother, Narcissa. Scorpius, however, was a different story. He and Draco had gotten a lot closer since everything had happened and only left each other's sides when it was time for class or bed. Being near one another was comforting, especially since Ali would talk to neither one of them. All in all, life was not so good for the Malfoys.

"Draco!" came a voice over his shoulder that he quickly matched to Hermione Weasley. Draco turned around to face her and for once since her children had been cursed, Hermione looked hopeful and somewhat happy. "We found a way to track who cursed the 5 students."

"Seriously?" Draco asked, his facing instantly lighting up. Since his daughter had been cursed, he hadn't gotten much sleep. "Have you done it yet? Who was it?"

"We are going to St. Mungo's today to perform it," Hermione explained. "I came to ask if you wanted to join us. James and Grace are accompanying me and we will be meeting up with Harry and Ginny. I figure you, Alison, and Scorpius might want to come too."

"Of course! I will find them and meet you in the Headmaster's office!"

 _Don't get too close_

 _It's dark inside_

 _That's where my demons hide_


	6. Chapter 6

WHEN THE end of classes came around, Grace was slightly nervous. Would the spell work? What if it didn't? What would they _do_ if it didn't work? Of course, she also had to face two people she had been avoiding for a long time. Alison and James. Would they be upset with her? Grace decided that figuring out who cursed her baby siblings was much more important than her nerves about seeing Ali and James.

"Are we ready to go?" asked Hermione once Grace had arrived. Grace had been the last to get to Headmistress McGonagall's office, and once she got there everyone was eager to go. They would be using the floo network from McGonagall's fireplace. When all of them exchanged glances—all of them including Draco, Scorpius, Ali, Grace, Hermione, James, and McGonagall—they began one by one flooing to St. Mungo's.

"Good, you're here," Harry said, squeezing the hand of is nearly-sick looking wife. Francine wasn't very familiar with the Wizarding World, so when she heard that two of her children were _cursed_ —she could barely say the word—she was appalled to say the least. In her world, Francine never had to deal with anything like this. Sure her kind had crime of their own, but _curses_? How someone could do that to another wizard—a word that was also beginning to leave an awful taste in her mouth—she couldn't even imagine. "I say we should try the charm now."

The whole bunch—including Ron and Astoria who had been waiting with Harry and Francine—gathered into the large room where all of the blackmail curse victims were and all were shaking with nerves as their beloved Headmistress began the charm. Once it was finished, the lighting in the room turned a bluish tint and faded images of all the cursed children appeared over their frail unconscious bodies. Their parents' and siblings faces lit up before the images started to speak in sync.

" _This is your fault,_ " they began. Hermione protectively squeezed Ron's and Grace's hands as the images continued. " _Each of you in this room is to blame. Whether it be by omission, standing by, not noticing, or worst of all, by lying. It is your fault, each and every one of you._ "

With that, all of the images disappeared and the room returned to its original lighting. Ali ran out of the room quickly and, following her deepest instincts, Grace followed her.

"Ali," Grace said, approaching Alison's balled up frame that was leaning against a wall. "Are you alright?"

"Well at the beginning of term my best friend stopped talking to me and now I just found out how little hope there is to save my sister," Ali snapped, finally turning to look at Grace, who had finally sat down beside her. "But other than that I'm just _fine_."

"I'm sorry," Grace said, putting her head in her hands for a few seconds. She then picked up her head and stared at the wall across from them. "I shouldn't have started ignoring you after I read that article."

"It hurt me just as much as it hurt you, you know," Ali said. "That article, if it was true, showed that my father was in love with your mother, not mine. You're not the only one whose childhood could be a lie."

"I know, and I'm sorry I pushed you away," Grace said sadly. "We should be helping each other through this. We are both equally involved. So from now on I am not going to shut you out. We will help each other like friends do."

"Agreed."

"ALL I'M saying is that maybe if our children weren't as exposed to— _magic_ —then maybe this wouldn't have happened!"

"Why are you so suddenly against magic?" Harry asked his wife. They were in a far-off hallway in St. Mungo's, arguing about their children. "We talked about it for a long time when James was turning eleven. You said that you were glad that he would be embracing the culture of my family!"

"Stuff like this doesn't _happen_ in my world. People don't _curse_ other people like your kind do!" Francine shouted, letting out all of her bottled up thoughts regarding the situation at hand. "If one from your world is capable of this, who knows what you could be capable of? Or—what your _children_ could be capable of?"

"My children?" Harry repeated, his face falling. Francine, however, stayed completely stone cold.

"I think I need to get away from this," Francine said quietly, stepping away from Harry and putting on her jumper that she had previously been holding. "Away from your world—your _kind._ For good."

"Is that how you feel?" Harry said softly. Francine slowly nodded. Harry looked down at his feet and turned around, making his way back to his children.

 _Don't get too close,_

 _It's dark inside_

 _That's where my demons hide_


	7. Chapter 7

"You should really talk to James," Alison tells Grace as they are sitting in the library. It has been a day since they tried the charm at St. Mungo's, and Grace was still somewhat avoiding James. Currently, she and Ali were in the library catching up on the schoolwork they had both been missing. Luckily, their teachers were very understanding of Allison, Grace, James, and Scorpius because their siblings had been cursed. "You have Astronomy with him tonight, don't you? You really should try to talk to him."

"But what if he is mad at me?" Grace asked sadly. "I don't want to bother him if he is cross with me."

"Gracie, the last time you and he spoke, you kissed and he told you he loved you. Then you ran away," Ali argued. "I'm sure that all he wants is to talk."

"MUM, DO you have any major enemies?" Grace asked her mother as they sat in her office before dinner. "Perhaps anyone who would want to exploit your secrets?"

"Well I can't think of anyone now," Hermione answered truthfully. "The last enemy I had was Cormac McLaggen, but we called a truce when I fell pregnant with you."

"What happened with Cormac?" Grace inquired. Hermione sighed and took a seat across from her daughter.

"He tried to get me to go out with him," Hermione began. "And I refused over and over again. I was with Draco at the time. And when I became engaged, Cormac tried to duel Ron. And lost."

"What a loon."

"I told him off for it, told him that he was in no way entitled to me or a relationship with me. He was very angry at first but left me alone. Then a few weeks after I found out I was pregnant with you—and Witch Weekly found out—Cormac came to my office and apologized for everything. He agreed to act civilized and stop acting to entitled."

"Did he seem like he was telling the truth?"

"Yes, of course," Hermione said, opening up another book. "Had he been harboring unresolved hatred I probably would have known."

"Alright, if you say so."

"OKAY, NOW you all locate and write down the constellations you see. You must have at least ten," said Professor Sinistra at the beginning of Astronomy. As soon as they were told to begin, Grace gathered up the courage to walk over to James. When she did, he looked up and seemed surprised. When she got a good look at him, she noticed the bags under his puffy red eyes. Well to be fair, Grace wouldn't be surprised if he hadn't been sleeping. She herself had been plagued with insomnia since the beginning of term.

"Hey," he said to her, studying her nervous demeanor. His mouth began to turn upwards into a sad smile.

"Hi," Grace said. She looked down at her feet and tugged at the hem of her robes as she combed her brain for something— _anything_ —to say. She didn't have to, however, because James pulled her into a tight, warm hug that the both needed very much. "I'm so sorry I haven't talked to you lately."

"It's alright, Gracie," he insisted. "We have both been going through a lot. Different people deal with grief different ways."

"That's not an excuse to push people away, James," Grace pointed out. James opened his mouth to argue, but Grace put up her hand. "I'm not perfect, you know. I am very broken. You are going to see all the baggage that I carry and all the personality flaws that I've kept hidden all this time. I am not a good singer, but I sing anyway when I'm bored or have a song stuck in my head. I don't sleep well, so I spend most of the night writing out chapters of my favorite books on half-crumpled pieces of parchment. I tend to leave my clothes all around my room until it is time to do laundry. But given all those flaws, I hope that you still like me enough to be my boyfriend and my friend through all of this. Because I love you too, James, and we need each other now more than ever. So, will you be my boyfriend?"

James was in awe. He was completely blown away by her speech, and it was what he had been wanting to hear from her ever since he kissed her and told her he loved her. Without answering, he cupped her face with his hands and kissed her. Lorcan Scamander hooted from a few feet away from them but neither Grace nor James seemed to notice until they pulled away a few moments later to find Lorcan looking at them and nodding in approval. Grace smiled at James sweetly and without another word they both began their Astronomy assignment.

"ARE YOU sure that's who you want to be your next target?" a small man in blue asked his boss. "It's awfully risky."

"Yes," said the man's boss. "She hasn't come clean yet. This next one will force her to. Whatever it takes, Hermione Granger must pay."

 _Don't get too close_

 _It's dark inside_

 _That's where my demons hide_


End file.
